IN YOUR OPINION

Letters to the Editor for April 5, 2013

Published: Friday, April 5, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 8:53 p.m.

I read the March 29 article “Deputies: Man clipped construction worker,” and I'm a senior, a veteran and disabled, so don't think I've got a target.

This clown went through a construction site, leaned his 4,000-pund car against a man doing his job, all to improve this man's neighborhood, and hurt the guy — just to get to a hair cut. Stop this!

I'm tried of being in the grocery store checkout line and being hit with a cart from behind. Stop this! I'm tired of waiting in the aisle of any venue while the old folks stare at the rack of goods from the middle of the aisle and without moving even for an “excuse me.” Stop this! God forbid parking lots, fast lanes, any direction of turns, and Jiffy Store front doors. Stop this!

What happened to opening doors, rolling your window down and waving the other guy in, looking behind you to see if you're in the way, “please” and “thank you”?

We are the generation that served, worked, raised families, moved to the suburbs with our success, because our fathers and mothers taught us manners.

Think of this the next time you do anything.

We don't have too many more opportunities to represent our generation. Stop and count the minutes you have left. Don't rush through them, and most of all, let's set an example.

Donald Russell

Ocala

Hard hit by HITS

I'm glad you finally printed an article about the financial impact of HITS. Not the gushing report in your editorial, but the negative repercussions from the herpes virus that smacked the entire equine community in this area.

Exhibitors from other breed disciplines didn't want to risk bringing their horses into Marion County. Therefore, other horse shows were canceled, hurting the fund-raising opportunities of local horse clubs. Some of these shows are stepping stones to regional and national events, and this hurt the chances for exhibitors to go on to higher levels, a domino effect.

Vets, farriers and equine dentists all lost business and income for several weeks because local horse farm owners, understandably, didn't want them to bring in the virus from other places. Even horse transporters and venue operators, who had nothing to do with HITS horses, had to engage in lengthy, complicated and expensive biohazard procedures. The instructions for those ran over a hundred pages. And they still lost business.

And let's not forget the danger to the horses themselves.

And now HITS is gone, off to other glories, leaving the wreckage behind. Did those involved in the initial contagion do enough to isolate it immediately? The rest of us who are left here, still suffering, could provide the answer.

Sabrina Jarema

Fairfield

Runaway government

I read this column every day in the Star-Banner and am shocked to find that the citizens of the United States have really become blind. The politicians have completely blind-sided and fooled this country.

While we are busy fighting about which party is better, they are all stealing us blind and absolving themselves of any of the blame at the same time. Only in dictatorships up to now has government not been able to be held accountable in any way for its actions. But our leaders have not only voted themselves full pay for life while its citizens slowly sink into total poverty, but passed laws prohibiting us from taking any action against them ... and what do we do?

Why do we continue to fight about which party is at fault. It is not the president who makes the laws, but our legislative government is expert at diverting our attention away from the fact that they only care about the very rich.

Now the federal government is stockpiling bullets. Only when our government officials stop putting themselves above the people, have the same health care, get the same rate of pay, put in term limits, no lifetime pensions, same laws governing them and can be held accountable to us, not themselves, will we have freedom.

Do you think you have anything to say about what they do, what they vote on, or how much they steal? You better think again.

Sharon Lawson

Ocala

Thanks for the help

Thank you so much for the article on Alicia Ford (March 14) whose family is waiting on Medicaid waiver. Correspondent Marion Rizzo did an outstanding job researching and writing the article, and as a result we have begun to get some help. We still don't have med-waiver, but we're praying it will be soon.

Many people in the community have offered help, and we so appreciate it. If you have any questions call Ken Ford at 352-282-2602.

Ken Ford

Ocala

Bubble of bigotry

I have to chuckle each time I read a rant from someone who claims to have no racist motives when expressing hatred for our president that references “birther” nonsense or “closet Muslim” silliness.

The giveaway is the lack of focus on issues in favor of murky character innuendo. The apparent delusion inside this bubble of bigotry is that anyone who denies being a racist can't be one.

Folks who mouth these irrelevancies seem to forget something: There are millions of old white guys like me who grew up with this. We know how it works. Nobody watched their tongue with us because, after all, we had to be in agreement, right?

Wrong. I spent almost six decades wading around in it and I know what it sounds like, looks like, smells like and tastes like, and it still turns my stomach. Luckily, I had a few influential family members who taught me that character was the only thing.

If those who relish their hatred so much would direct it where it is deserved, they would lavish it upon the small individuals who bequeathed it to them.

James Kriegel

Ocala

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